


Kaleidoscope

by Star233933



Series: Colour of my soul [1]
Category: GOT7
Genre: Constructive Criticism Welcome, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I included all of OT7, I said pre-slash, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Jackson is adorable, M/M, My First AO3 Post, Pre-Slash, Short One Shot, and a brief mention of park jinyoung, as always, because jjp, but honestly really only jackbum and their parents show up, but it's very vague, but jackbum haven't met yet, but no flames please, but probably not in the way you're thinking, for now, jackbum - Freeform, not sure if I'll add those two extra installments, so it's actually pre pre slash, soul marks, uh what else
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 09:18:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17578118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star233933/pseuds/Star233933
Summary: Each person's soul has a unique color, one that they transfer to other people's skin when they first touch. The more vibrant the mark, the greater impact that person will have in your life. When people choose who they interact with based on the vibrancy of the marks, friendships are no longer spontaneous, and inferring your future becomes possible.Jaebum has a press of lilac over the moles of his right eye, courtesy of his mother, and the dull, washed out grey of his father's fist pressed right over his heart, inciting confusion only to become a painful reminder that he will never be able to wash away.Jackson has his mother's mark, where she swept her hand lovingly over his face when he was just a newborn, his father's gentle hands leaving an emerald smudge over his brow, and his older's brother's sunset smeared over his forehead.He also carries the faint marks of other people who decided he wasn't worth the effort to befriend if they weren't going to mean much in the grand scheme of his life and vice versa.The marks can be helpful but they can also be a burden.Jaebum and Jackson find out how true that statement is as they grow up, dealing with the marks in their own way.





	Kaleidoscope

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is my first post on AO3 so I'd appreciate any and all constructive criticism you have to offer! Just no flames please! Also I've transferred this story from the G7A, where my user is Twin Snakes. Feel free to follow since I'll likely be posting the next two installments of this series on there first ^^ Thanl you and I hope you enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Jackson is a canvas of vibrant colors, a patchwork of other's souls imprinted on his skin. He has butter yellow, bright and unmistakable sweeping all along the left side of his face, his mother's touch as she held her newborn baby signifying how intertwined she would be in his life.

His father brushes an emerald smudge along his brow, his touch soft and gentle, unable to believe that he had helped bring another beautiful life into the world. His brother leaves a hasty smear of sunset across his forehead, excited for a new baby brother and just as vibrant and colorful as his parents, because for Jackson his family will always leave a deep impression on his life.

 

━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━

 

Jaebum has only his parents and no siblings and so for most of his school days up to junior high he only has two marks.

His mother's lips are imprinted on his skin, pressed right over the two beauty marks hovering over his eye. The lilac is soft and feminine, but no less vibrant than the violet bruise his father presses right over his heart when he touches him lightly, afraid to break this precious gift. From a young age Jaebum loved to touch his mother's lips, awed at the glistening deep shade of black she tells him he placed there. Smiling broadly as she tells him that it's the deepest (non)color she has, a sign that he is the most precious thing in her life.

 

Frowns confusedly when his dad comes home stumbling and sleepy, his small hands brushing and comparing the tangle of navy blue above his heart to the dull grey dusting his father's knuckles. It's only when the screaming matches stop and he and his mother are driving away from his childhood home that he figures that the liquor bottle has claimed his father's body completely, would wash his father's skin in a medley of sickly yellow if it could leave it's own mark.

Jaebum simply figures that it means he didn't leave as much of an impact in his father life as the man clearly did in his. His eyes are narrowed and he does his best to valiantly ignore the throbbing pain in his heart and the bruise his father left with that first gentle touch that will never fade away.

 

 

━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━

 

Jackson loves his parents, adores them and wants to be exactly like them in whichever way he can.

Jackson's father is an Olympic fencer, and he decides early on that his son will follow in his footsteps. Jackson is excited and so eager to prove himself after being told that his short height has put a premature stop to gymnastics. In fact, he's so eager to learn, that when he first meets his coach he blitzes into the man and smashes his nose into his chest.

He comes away with the middle of his face resembling a red beacon and it's only after panicking for a few minutes that he realizes it's not blood.

He only takes a minute to sigh in relief before cheering excitedly and rambling about the shade of red and the promise of a bright future because, "Can't you see how bright it is, fencing is clearly going to play a large role in my life!"

It's a few years later and Jackson is an Olympic Junior fencer when a scout for a certain entertainment company stationed in South Korea shakes his hand and gives him a card on a basketball court. It's just a normal day, one like any other. Jackson has just embarrassed himself dancing for the man, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment, but his eyes land on the searing vermilion that the man left on his palm, one of the brightest colors on his skin.

Of course, not all vibrant colors are an indication of something good, just that they'll have a strong impact in your life, be it positive or negative.

But his gut tells Jackson that this is something worth pursuing and so during dinner two days later, he announces to his family that he'll be giving up fencing on a whim. A chance. For something more.

His parents are worried and nervous, seeing the vermilion encapsulating Jackson's palm as a bad omen but Jackson sees the ambition, the passion, the future laid out if only he takes this chance.

His parents make a deal with him, tell him that they'll allow him to pursue his dream if they fulfill one of theirs first. He has to win the Junior Fencing Championships or he'll never get to stand on a stage and sing his own music. He practices relentlessly, determined to complete his objective, and his mother runs her hands through his hair when he's just gotten out of the shower, exhausted. He finds food in his bag that his father snuck in there before he leaves for practice.

He's relieved that they're still supporting him, that they're pushing him to do his best and win despite how much they must want him to stay.

It gives him the final push he needs and at the end of it all he has a gold medal around his neck, his face flushed and sweaty, but his marks absolutely glowing and adding to the beauty that is Jackson Wang at his highest.

His parents keep their promise and let him go, but not before he showers his mother and father with hugs and kisses, tears building in his eyes before he leaves to find out whether this was just a waste of his time or a long new chapter. Whether following this half-formed dream when a future is already laid out in its entirety for him, will be his downfall.

His nose may be drenched in red but it's a dull copper in comparison to the vermilion that shines brightly on his palm.

_When he eventually becomes a trainee and then later selected to be placed in a K-Pop group that JYPE would be debuting soon he's so grateful and relieved that he made the right choice._

 

━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━

 

Jaebum wears long sleeved shirts and pants that reach his ankles, unwilling to get branded again. If he's going to get anymore colors then they will be on his terms now.

When his mother first brings home the man that will eventually become his stepfather Jaebum is polite and courteous but he refuses to allow the man to touch him, standing firm even at the sight of his mother's pleading eyes. But the man does not scold him or feel offended. He knows their past and simply nods in acceptance, not wanting to force a mark on Jaebum, doesn't want to create another bruise that will never be able to heal.

In the end it's this fact and the ibis red he leaves on his mother's ring finger and pinky that convince Jaebum to allow this new figure in his life to mark him on his index finger and thumb. The red on his mother's joyous form is just as vibrant as the glistening black covering her lips and Jaebum knows that the man is just as important to his mother as he himself is. He wants her to be happy, and if the looks his new stepfather directs her are any indication, he is just as besotted with her as she is with him.

_He doesn't want his mother to continue choking from the acidic violet fingers curling around her delicate neck, doesn't want that man's presence to hang like a noose around her, restraining whatever will she has to live._

_His mother grows her hair long, covering those haunting bruise-shaded fingers and wears a ring on her ibis red ring finger._

_Jaebum has stopped looking in the mirror after he's finished in the shower. He refrains from removing his shirt after an exhausting session of sharpening his b-boy moves, no matter how much he'd like to feel the cool air brush against his heated skin._

_The violet fist above his heart remains hidden from the world, away from prying eyes and so no one sees the red chafing at the corners of the bruise like an infection. A result of fingers rubbing endlessly at the violet mark, desperate to remove it, and failing every time._

_His mother is happy so Jaebum is too. He ignores the throbbing pain exuding from the chafed skin above his heart and simply smiles at his mother and stepfather, determined to forget about black dusted knuckles and sickly, yellow-tinted skin._

 

━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━

 

Jackson is lively and rambunctious, affectionate, and so he goes through life adding his own soul mark to everyone around him.

The dash of sadness and disappointment never fades when he sees how light his soul mark is on some people's skin. Sometimes it's barely visible, although the worst is when he leaves no mark at all.

The thought that sometimes no matter how hard he tries, no matter how much he cares, he will never amount to much in some people's lives is poignant throughout the years.

He does his best to dismiss these thoughts, but it's hard. Especially when he meets people who he thinks would make great friends, who he wants to become closer with, only to be warded off with polite smiles and dismissing glances as they see the pale pallor of the soul mark he left on their skin after a surge of barely controlled affection.

He doesn't understand why people would write off someone else just because the marks dictate that they won't leave a profound effect on their life. A stranger could leave the brightest mark on your skin, simply because they happened to give you a calling card at the right place at the right time.

Sometimes Jackson hates the soul marks for that reason, for robbing him of his potential friendships before they've ever really formed. For dictating from the start that he should keep this person close, she'll grow to be one of your best friends, but that boy with the awkward smile will never mean as much so don't even bother.

It dims a bit of his bright light and Jackson becomes more careful about withholding his touch, not wanting to discourage anyone from being a part of his life. However, the fact that he can no longer share his affection so easily, so freely, hurts him too, simply in a different way.

Afterwards Jackson is still lively and rambunctious, still extremely affectionate, but he no longer goes through life adding his soul mark to everyone around him.

In the end the marks still ultimately change how he comes to care about people, and he hates them, just a little bit, for that.

_But he can't hate them completely, because they opened a new door that may have otherwise remained closed. Led him to six other boys, and later reassured him of his importance in their lives where words never could. The gratitude easily overwhelms any lingering dislike that remains, and Jackson supposes he could learn to live with the trade-off._

 

━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━

 

When Jaebum meets Park Jinyoung, they're competing for their dreams at the age of 15.

Jinyoung holds the advantage seeing as Jaebum has only ever really immersed himself in one specific style of dance, but he had chosen this path long ago, when he was only seven years old with two marks and a wildly beating heart. Completely in awe at the stars that would dance on stage, utterly captivating and shining brightly, the colors on their skin creating galaxies in the air as they danced.

Jaebum wanted to be just like them, even before putrid yellow entered his life and he resolved to shine brightly enough to burn it away. 

So when they're up on stage and performing for the man sitting in front of them he puts as much passion as he can into every move, desperate to squeeze every drop of his dedication and charisma into his audition.

And he succeeds.

They both do, in fact, and he seems to float along outside his body as he shakes hands with JYP himself, absently noting the burgundy staining his palm before flowers are shoved into his hands and he's forced in front of a camera.

Jinyoung talks first which Jaebum is grateful for because there's still a lump in his throat and his stomach is twisting with butterflies and the combined effect causes tears to spring in his eyes when he gives his own thanks directed towards the camera.

Jinyoung bumps Jaebum's fist with his own and when they pull away the older has turquoise cascading over the knuckles of his left hand while Jinyoung has black imprinted over his own.

Happy as he is, Jaebum doesn't notice the bright, clear cut of the turquoise or the way the black has sunk into Jinyoung's knuckles like ink, nor does he ponder over the fact that he's gotten more marks in one day than he has over several years since his stepfather.

All he can even consider in the moment are the tears still trying their best to spill down his cheeks and the alarming beat of his heart in his chest, truly happy for the first time in a long long time.

 

━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━

 

They both set off to find out what lies in store for them, the life of glitz and glamour, of diets and nonstop practice, their dreams and passions.

Two boys, both on the cusp of something great, coming from two wildly different places, and sharing one dream.

Jackson Wang has an awed smile on his face when he first sees the Im Jaebum and the twists and turns of his special talent, the words b-boy king already rolling off his tongue.

Im Jaebum has just finished his routine and is wiping the sweat off his forehead when he turns and is immediately bombarded  by an excited boy with a snapback on his head and broken Korean spilling from his lips.

But Jaebum doesn't back away for once, and Jackson forgets about keeping his self-imposed distance.

No marks are exchanged and yet-

**_Sparks fly._ **


End file.
